Atomizer head



Aug. 29,1944. w. I. NIICCRUM ATOMIZER HEAD Filed Sept. 23

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INVENTOR. WALTER I. M CfiU/V I 4'. M ATTORNEYJ.

Patented Aug. 29, 1944 ATOMIZER HEAD Walter Isaac McCrum, Belmar, N. J.,assignor to Bowen Research Corporation, Garwood, N. J., a corporation ofNewJersey.

Application September 23, 1942, Serial No. 459,357

8 Claims.

The present invention relates to devices for dispersing fluids, andembodies more specifically,

an improved spray or atomizerhead by means of turbing the balance or thespray characteristics,

of the mechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide a, device of the abovecharacter wherein the vane or plate'structure is such that it may bemade by simple machining operations and yet be accurately formed andeasily balanced as well as readily inserted or removed from themechanism.

A further object of the invention is to provide an atomizer head whereinmeans are provided for preventing objectionable abrasion or wear on thebottom of the head.

The foregoing and other objects are attained by providing an atomizerhead having top and bottom members that are provided with one or morevane elements, the vane elements being annular in formation and unitaryin construction and adapted to be secured in position between the topand bottom plates.

The details of the foregoing mechanism, as well as of the invention,will appear as it is described in greater detail in connection with theaccompanying drawing wherein Figure 1 is a partial plane view showing anatomizer head formed in accordance with the present invention. The planein which the sectional portion of Figure lis illustrated is shown by theline Il in Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a view in section taken on line 2--2 of Figure 1 looking inthe direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a partial plane view partly broken away and in section suchas that of Figure 1 showing a modified vane formation.

Referring to the above drawing, th atomizer head is shown as beingprovided with a bottom plate which may be threaded upon a taperingsleeve fitting l I, the fitting l I being of such form as to enable thehead to be secured to a drive shaft in any usual fashion. The bottomplate I0 is shown as being threaded at l2 to a flange I3 formed on thefitting ll, set screws l4 being provided to secure the plate to thefitting in a desired position.

An annular top plate 15 is provided to overlie the bottom plate In andis formed with a central aperture l6 through which material may be fedinto the atomizer head. To facilitate the distribution of the materialinto th head, a flange I1 is provided on the fitting H, the flange I'lserving to deflect the material outwardly towards the vanes of theatomizer head.

In order that effective atomization may be accomplished, the head isprovided with one or more series of vanes. In the form shown herein thehead is illustrated as being provided with outer series of vanes l8 andan inner series of vanes l9. The radial dimension of the vanes may varyas desired and, in order to accomplish effective atomization and toprovide a structure that is easy to manufacture and to assemble anddisassemble, the vanes are formed in an integral structure. That is,each series of vanes, if there is more than one series, is formed as anintegral annulus.

This will be seen from examination of Figures 1 and 2 in which the innerseries of vanes I9 is formed from an annular ring 20 having acylindrical outer surface and having flanges 2! on the opposite faces ofthe ring. The flanges are preferably spaced radially inward from theouter cylindrical surface of the ring so that the ring is generallyU-shaped in cross-section. The inner surfaces of the flanges are taperedas at 22 to serve as guiding surfaces to deflect the liquid toward thecenter of the vanes. The flanges 2| are formed with upwardly anddownwardly extending annular flanges 23 that are adapted to be receivedwithin cooperating annular grooves 24 formed in thetop and bottom plates[5 and II], respectively. Screws 25 are provided to secure the top andbottom plates to the flanges 23 as illustrated in Figur 2.

'I he vanes are formed by machining through the cylindrical outersurface in the base of the U-shaped portion of the ring 20 between theflanges 2|, and as will appear in Figure 1, these machining operationsinvolving merely a straight machine cut in a direction parallel to theaxis of the ring. In this fashion, the indexing of the ring 20 may beaccomplished effectively and the cutting of the vanes is accomplished bythe simplest of machining operations.

The outer series of vanes 3 may be formed in a manner similar to theformation of the va'nes of series l9 and the shape and size may bevaried as desired. For example, in the form shown in the drawing, theouter vanes l8 are spaced some- What further apart than the inner vanesl9 and are of a smaller radial dimension than the vanes l9.

Beneath the bottom plate II] a flexible plate 26 is provided, the platebeing secured in position by means of a washer 21 and lock nuts 28 whichare threaded onto a downwardly extending extremity 29 of the fitting II.The plate 26 deflects dried abrasive material from contact against thebottom of the plate Ill and thus prevents excessive wear which otherwisewould be caused because of the circulation of the dried and abrasiveparticles in the drying chamber when the atomizer head is used in spraydrying operations.

It will be quite apparent that the vanes I8 and I9 may be formed so thatthey have either a forward or backward lead. For example, in Figure 3,the vanes are shown with a backward lead, considering the .direction ofrotation of the atomizer head as being clockwise in the drawing. Thisvane arrangement may be varied by variation of the machining operationsby means of which the vanes are formed. While the invention has beendescribed with specific reference to the accompanying drawing, it is notto be limited save as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An atomizer head comprising top and bottom plates, means to mount oneof the plates on a rotatable element, a unitary annular member havingvanes formed therein, interengaging means on the plates and member toposition said member in substantially co-axial relationship to saidplates, and means for detachably securing said plates and said member inassembled position,

2. An atomizer head comprising top and bottom plates, means to mount theplates on a rotatable element, an annular member formed with vanes,flanges at the opposite extremity of the annular member, and means tosecure the flanges to the plates.

3. An atomizer head comprising top and bottom plates, means to mount theplates on a rotatable element, an annular member formed with vanes,flanges at the opposite extremity of the annular member, said flangeshaving inner surfaces inclined toward the vanes, and means to secure theflanges to the plates.

4. An atomizer head comprising top and bottom plates spaced apart toform a chamber, an annular member located between said plates and formedwith slots therethrough extending parallel to the axis of the headproviding a plurality of vanes, interengaging means on said plates andsaid annular member for positioning said member in substantiallyco-axial relationship to said plates, means for securing said member tosaid plates, and means for securing said head to a. rotatable element.

5. An atomizer head comprising a pair of plates spaced apart to form achamber, an annular member of generally U-shaped cross section andprovided with slots extending through the base of the U-shaped portionthereof to form a plurality of vanes, interengaging means on the sidesof said member and on said plates for positioning said member insubstantially co-axial relationship to said plates, means for securingsaid member in place between said plates, and means for securing saidhead to a rotatable element.

6. An atomizer head comprising a pair of plates spaced apart to form achamber, an annular member located in said chamber and formed withflanges on the opposite faces thereof, said member having slots formedtherein between the flanges to provide a plurality of vanes, said plateshaving annular grooves therein receiving the flanges on the member,means for securing said member to the plates and means for securing saidhead to a rotatable element.

7. An atomizer head embodying an annular member of generally U-shapedcross section having slots extending through the base of the U-shapedportion to form a plurality of vanes therein,-the inner surfaces of saidmember inwardly of and adjacent to said vanes being inclined inwardly todirect fluid toward the vanes and the outer surfaces of said memberhaving outwardly projecting annular flanges thereon concentric with saidbase of said member,

8. An atomizer head comprising a fitting adapted to be secured to arotatable element, a pair of plates spaced apart to form a chamber andextending outward at right angles to the axis of rotation of thefitting, a ring of material concentric with said axis of rotation, saidring being of generally U-shaped cross section and formed with slots inthe base of the U-shaped portion thereof to provide a plurality of vanestherein, the inner face of said ring adjacent the slots being formedwith surfaces inclined toward the slots to direct fluid toward thecentral por tion of said slots, and means for securing the ring to theplates.

WALTER ISAAC McCRUM.

